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'''Islamic philosophy''' (الفلسفة الإسلامية) is a branch of Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between [[philosophy]] ([[reason]]) and  the religious teachings of [[Islam]] ([[faith]]).

'''Islamic philosophy''' (الفلسفة الإسلامية) is a branch of Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between [[philosophy]] ([[reason]]) and  the religious teachings of [[Islam]] ([[faith]]).

==Definition==

==Definition==

The attempt to fuse religion and philosophy is difficult because there are no clear preconditions. Philosophers typically hold that one must accept the possibility of truth from any source and follow the argument wherever it leads.  On the other hand, classical religious believers have a set of religious principles that they hold to be unchallengeable fact.  Given these divergent goals and views, some hold that one cannot simultaneously be a philosopher and a true adherent of [[Islam]], which is believed to be a [[Revelation|revealed religion]] by its adherents. In this view, all attempts at synthesis ultimately fail.

The attempt to fuse religion and philosophy is difficult because there are no clear preconditions. Philosophers typically hold that one must accept the possibility of truth from any source and follow the argument wherever it leads.  On the other hand, classical religious believers have a set of religious principles that they hold to be unchallengeable fact.  Given these divergent goals and views, some hold that one cannot simultaneously be a philosopher and a true adherent of [[Islam]], which is believed to be a [[Revelation|revealed religion]] by its adherents. In this view, all attempts at synthesis ultimately fail.

===Jewish philosophy in the Arab world in the classical period===

===Jewish philosophy in the Arab world in the classical period===

The oldest Jewish religio-philosophical work preserved is that of [[Saadia Gaon]] ([[892]]-[[942]]), ''[[Emunoth ve-Deoth|Emunot ve-Deot]]'', "The Book of Beliefs and Opinions". In this work Saadia treats the questions that interested the Mutakallamin, such as the creation of matter, the unity of God, the divine attributes, the soul, etc. Saadia criticizes other philosophers severely. For Saadia there was no problem as to creation: God created the world ''[[ex nihilo]]'', just as the [[Bible]] attests; and he contests the theory of the Mutakallamin in reference to atoms, which theory, he declares, is just as contrary to reason and religion as the theory of the philosophers professing the eternity of matter.

The oldest Jewish religio-philosophical work preserved is that of [[Saadia Gaon]] ([[892]]-[[942]]), ''[[Emunoth ve-Deoth|Emunot ve-Deot]]'', "The Book of Beliefs and Opinions". In this work Saadia treats the questions that interested the Mutakallamin, such as the creation of matter, the unity of God, the divine attributes, the soul, etc. Saadia criticizes other philosophers severely. For Saadia there was no problem as to creation: God created the world ''[[ex nihilo]]'', just as the [[Bible]] attests; and he contests the theory of the Mutakallamin in reference to atoms, which theory, he declares, is just as contrary to reason and religion as the theory of the philosophers professing the eternity of matter.

=== Social philosophy ===

=== Social philosophy ===

[[Ibn Khaldun]] (1332-1406), in his ''[[Muqaddimah]]'' (the introduction to a seven volume analysis of [[universal history]]), advanced [[social philosophy]] in formulating theories of [[social cohesion]] and [[social conflict]].

[[Ibn Khaldun]] (1332-1406), in his ''[[Muqaddimah]]'' (the introduction to a seven volume analysis of [[universal history]]), advanced [[social philosophy]] in formulating theories of [[social cohesion]] and [[social conflict]].

== Modern Islamic philosophy ==

== Modern Islamic philosophy ==

The tradition of Islamic Philosophy is still very much alive today despite the belief in many Western circles that this tradition ceased after the golden ages of [[Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi|Suhrawardi]]’s ''Hikmat al-Ishraq'' (Illumination Philosophy) or, at the latest, [[Mulla Sadra]]’s ''Hikmat-e-Mota’aliye'' or Transcendent (Exalted) Philosophy. Another unavoidable name is [[Iqbal|Allama Muhammad Iqbal]] who reshaped and revitalized Islamic philosophy amongst the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent in the early 20th century[http://www.allamaiqbal.com/]. Beside his [[Urdu]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] poetical work, [[The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam]] [http://www.allamaiqbal.com/works/prose/english/reconstruction/] is a milestone in the modern political philosophy of Islam.

The tradition of Islamic Philosophy is still very much alive today despite the belief in many Western circles that this tradition ceased after the golden ages of [[Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi|Suhrawardi]]’s ''Hikmat al-Ishraq'' (Illumination Philosophy) or, at the latest, [[Mulla Sadra]]’s ''Hikmat-e-Mota’aliye'' or Transcendent (Exalted) Philosophy. Another unavoidable name is [[Iqbal|Allama Muhammad Iqbal]] who reshaped and revitalized Islamic philosophy amongst the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent in the early 20th century[http://www.allamaiqbal.com/]. Beside his [[Urdu]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] poetical work, [[The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam]] [http://www.allamaiqbal.com/works/prose/english/reconstruction/] is a milestone in the modern political philosophy of Islam.

*In [[Malaysia]], [[Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas]] is a prominent metaphysical thinker.;

*In [[Malaysia]], [[Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas]] is a prominent metaphysical thinker.;

*One of the prominent Islamic thinkers of the twenty first century is [[Abd'allah ibn Zubair]], author of Muktassar Falsafa (The Parables of Sophism) first published in 1977 with the aide of Professor Hamid Mahmud, [[Maulana Maududi]] and Major Bashiruddin.;

*One of the prominent Islamic thinkers of the twenty first century is [[Abd'allah ibn Zubair]], author of Muktassar Falsafa (The Parables of Sophism) first published in 1977 with the aide of Professor Hamid Mahmud, [[Maulana Maududi]] and Major Bashiruddin.;

== See also ==

== See also ==

*[[Islamic science]]

*[[Islamic science]]

*[[Modern Islamic philosophy]]

*[[Modern Islamic philosophy]]

== Further reading ==

== Further reading ==

# {{cite book

# History of Islamic Philosophy, by Henry Corbin, ISBN 0-710-30416-1

|title=History of Islamic Philosophy

|isbn=0-710-30416-1

# ''History of Islamic Philosophy'' (Routledge History of World Philosophies) by [[Seyyed Hossein Nasr]] and Oliver Leaman [ed.]

# ''History of Islamic Philosophy'' (Routledge History of World Philosophies) by [[Seyyed Hossein Nasr]] and Oliver Leaman [ed.]

# ''History of Islamic Philosophy'' by [[Majid Fahkry]]

# ''History of Islamic Philosophy'' by [[Majid Fahkry]]